A piece of history has fetched a record price at auction. During a recent Henry Aldridge & Son auction, the Rostron Tiffany Watch sold for £1.567 million, which is equivalent to more than $1.6 million. The amount is “a new world record price for Titanic memorabilia,” the auction house said on Instagram.
Per the auction house, the 18-carat gold pocket watch was made for Tiffany & Co. by Touchon & Co. of Switzerland.
The accessory was gifted to Captain Arthur Henry Rostron by three women whose husbands died in the tragedy.
Per CNN, John Jacob Astor, one of the deceased, was the richest man aboard the Titanic. Astor, who was played by Eric Braeden in the 1997 film Titanic, got his pregnant wife into a lifeboat. He later died alongside 1,500 others.
Rostron was captaining steamship RMS Carpathia when he heard distress calls from the sinking Titanic. He changed his ship’s course—which was heading from New York to the Mediterranean—to assist in rescue efforts.
The auction house noted that, while the wealthy businessmen perished in the Titanic, Rostron’s actions saved 700 passengers and crew members.
The widows presented the gift to Rostron during a New York City lunch, one year after the Titanic set sail. The watch features an inscription that reads, “Presented to Captain Rostron with the heartfelt gratitude and appreciation of three survivors of the Titanic April 15th 1912.”
The outlet reported that the previous record for Titanic memorabilia was £1.175 million. A pocket watch sold for that amount earlier this year.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge told the outlet, “The fact the world record price for Titanic memorabilia has been broken twice this year demonstrates the ever-decreasing supply and an ever-increasing demand for memorabilia related to the ship.”
The post Gold Watch Gifted to Titanic Hero Auctioned Off for More Than $1.6 Million appeared first on VICE.
The post Gold Watch Gifted to Titanic Hero Auctioned Off for More Than $1.6 Million appeared first on VICE.
